Canon Selphy CP800

Pros:

Cons:

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Price as reviewed:

£99.00

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Dye Sub printers have been less and less visible in recent years, mostly due to the resurgence of inkjet and the comparatively low price of models capable of far larger print sizes. The Canon Selphy CP800 offers plenty that the average inkjet model can’t, from being portable to being geared towards computer-less usage.

The main restriction is the print size, as although there are slight alterations available in terms of width the maximum available is 6 x 4î. Ink comes included with paper in 36, 72 and 108 sheet packs, costing around £10, £20 and £40 respectively. In each case only a single ink cassette is included which is quoted as being usable for 36 prints, making a potentially large deficiency on the paper/ink front. The battery required to make the CP800 portable is also extra, costing around £50, leaving a touch more expense to be outlaid to fully realize the printers’ potential.

The fact that the Canon Selphy CP800 manages to be so compact as to have the potential to be portable is an advantage in itself though, as the printer can fit a bag or drawer quite easily. The stand-alone nature, which allows for direct printing via a memory card or USB stick, will keep the computer-less photographer happy or those simply wanting quick prints on the run. The amount of buttons on show indicate the simplicity, making the process from file to print extremely straightforward. The print speed isn’t exactly breathtaking, at just under a minute for a colour print, but once produced the results are excellent. Tone and depth are excellent, with no particularly obvious colour casts to speak of. It’s worth mentioning that the Image Optimize setting does tend to boost the predominant colour to overtly obvious levels, giving those showing a large amount of red plenty of saturation.

The screen is pretty poor for anything more than getting an idea of the image being printed, so any editing or separating of similar photos needs to be done elsewhere. The editing options within the printer are very basic, and don’t provide an onscreen preview when being altered, but little more can be expected of such a product.

Verdict

Compared to an inkjet there are both advantages and disadvantages to the CP800, making it only really useful to someone who’d like a portable, small model with a limited print run.